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Recipe Connection: Almond Apple Grain Free {Paleo} Pancakes

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When our family first started experimenting with going grain-free, it was important to me to find simple recipes that didn’t call for unique ingredients. I didn’t want to make any big investments in grain free pancakes or other recipes in case it wasn’t something we kept up.

After a week or two of breakfasts consisting of eggs or yogurt and missing our crunchy homemade granola, I was desperate to find some more options! I tried two different grain free pancake recipes using almonds (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!) ground into meal – these almond meal pancakes and another grain free apple cinnamon pancake recipe (from a Paleo website that is no longer in exsistence), but one was too dry and one needed more flavor.

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I selected the best of each recipe and created my own, and meshing them together made it just perfect. If you like cinnamon, you’ll love these grain free pancakes, and they’re no more work than a conventional wheat-based pancake recipe.

Nutritional Perks of Using Almonds in a Recipe

Almonds, an honorable mention in my list of super foods, have a ton of Vitamin E, which is a powerful antioxidant and good for the skin. Much more nutritional info here.

Instructions

In a food processor, grind the almonds into a fine meal, stopping before almond butter.

Add the apple, cored, if using a whole apple and food process until finely chopped.

Continue with all the other ingredients in any order, either in your food processor or in a mixing bowl. Mix well.

Add milk if needed for thinner batter.

Cook over medium to medium-high heat in butter or coconut oil until bubbly and slightly dry on the edges, and flip once.

Serve with butter and maple syrup. Leftovers will refrigerate or freeze just fine and reheat in the toaster oven, as they are very sturdy pancakes.

Notes

* These are very thick pancakes; the coconut milk does a nice job making them thinner. You can also use water, but it really dilutes the flavor.

* Time-saver: Grind almonds in a batch and keep in the freezer to make breakfast prep quicker. Just be sure to stop before you reach almond butter – a fine meal is the goal, and once the nuts start swishing around and starting to stick together just slightly instead of food processing evenly, it’s time to stop.

* When you have already ground almonds, you can either chop the apples or just use applesauce, and then you don’t need to get the food processor out in the morning.

* UPDATE: a reader tried the recipe with almond meal/flour and it works great! She did not need the coconut milk or any liquid for moisture, possibly because she used applesauce instead of an apple. That makes it an even easier, quicker breakfast!

* UPDATE: another reader made a CAKE out of the same recipe! Double these amounts and pour into a glass 9″x9″ pan. Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes or until it’s done. Tastes like coffee cake!!

* We tried it without eggs for our newly egg-allergic child (2016). I used the flax-egg substitute of 2 Tbs. flax in 6 Tbs. water, but it wasn’t really successful. The baby loved them, but they were super hard to flip and very crumbly. I might try psyllium husk next though!

Did you make this recipe?

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If the almonds are organic, they’re pasteurized using a burst of steam. Otherwise, most likely chemicals are used in a process called PPO, or Propylene Oxide. It’s FDA and EPA approved. Of course. Last time I checked the really great price almonds at Costco are chemically pasteurized which is a total bummer.

The idea behind them still being labeled “raw” is that the treatment is only on the outside and doesn’t really “cook” or (apparently, according to the government) alter or effect the inside or nutritional value.

If you don’t like the idea of chemicals being puffed at your food, whether EPA says it all goes away in a few minutes or not, or you want truly raw almonds, you have to buy directly from the grower.

You can find farms like this one selling online, but the almonds aren’t cheap.

Note: A reader told me recently that the almonds sold at Trader Joe’s are steam pasteurized, so if you’re lucky enough to have a store near you, stock up!

Other Grain Free Pancakes

Even easier, you’ll love the simplicity and sweetness of these banana paleo pancakes, which we eat without even adding syrup.

The best part about these pumpkin paleo pancakes, other than the great taste, is that there’s a whole cup of veggies in every dozen or so pancakes. Veggies for breakfast? Possible!

More grain-free recipes:

Katie here – gluten-free can be confusing but it doesn’t have to be hard! I’m thrilled to share a FREE gluten-free cheat sheet mini eBook to help get you started! This is perfect if you’ve just been told you need a GF diet, if you have a friend or family member eating GF and you’d like to cook for them, or if you’re just curious what it’s all about!

About Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship

I’m a Catholic wife and mother of four who wants the best of nutrition and living for her family. I believe that God calls us to be good stewards of all His gifts as we work to feed our families: time, finances, the good green earth, and of course, our healthy bodies. I'm the founder and boss lady here at Kitchen Stewardship -- welcome aboard!

32 Bites of Conversation So Far

I think I’ll give this recipe a try! I’ve made your Orange Vegetable Pancakes several times — I love the flavor but I do seem to have trouble with them sticking to the griddle. More oil would solve that, I’m sure!

Michelle, I keep meaning to try this recipe with both almond flour and almond meal, but I just get going in the morning and do the recipe and forget. 😉 My guess? Same amounts, just the texture of the finished product will be a little smoother. The great thing about pancakes is you could make the recipe, holding out that optional coconut milk, try one pancake, and add liquid to thin the batter if necessary.

I used almond meal/flour (that is what the package says) and I used 1 cup like the recipe calls for. It worked great and was plenty moist without the coconut milk, but I used applesauce not an apple. I LOVED this recipe, and I am planning on making it all the time now!

Katie – We buy truly raw organic almonds by the 30# case directly from a farm in CA. I think with shipping they come out to $7 per pound – which is pretty cheap in my book! The pancakes look delicious! We’ve been making peach pancakes like this lately with a little coconut flour too and the kids really like them. Here is the link to the farm ~ http://organicalmondsraw.com/

I used almond flour instead of starting with whole almonds and it worked fine–tasted a little grainy to me, but the kids loved them. I’m thinking another flour would work as well, but haven’t experimented enough to know which one would work! 🙂

Our raw milk dairy farm (in Central TX) does a lot of bulk purchases for its members – would be a good way to buy in bulk and get the savings but not have to deal with the whole amount. I just sent them these two links so thank you! Might be worth polling some friends or message boards locally to see who would go in on a purchase with you!

Hello! I love this recipe, but recently found out my son is allergic to apples, which is a real bummer! Anyway, I was wondering if you had any suggestions on a substitute for the apples/applesauce in this recipe.

Lindsay, Aw, rough time of year especially to be nixing apples. 🙁 For these pancakes, you could do tons of stuff – any fruit would work for the apples, like peaches, pears, even berries or bananas, and the applesauce could be any puree – pumpkin/squash, banana (that will change the taste a lot), pear-sauce, etc. Likely they’d work with the applesauce taken out and the moisture replaced with either milk, coconut oil, or a mix of both. Hope that helps! 🙂 Katie

Nora, Most people seek out almond flour recipes if they have a problem with gluten or grains – so honestly, I’d just look for regular flour recipes! But if you can use wheat flour, that should be a fine sub, or if you want to try another nut to remain grain-free, most would probably work. 🙂 Katie

The recipe look delicious. But i have one question. Could these be made without eggs? Many of the recipes I have tried do even though it is said they don’t. I may be over sensitive but I don’t like the taste of egg.

Hi Brianna, I’ve never tried it, but it’s rare that you can just take the eggs out. With this recipe they’re particularly important to hold the nuts together, so I am almost 100% sure it will not work out. Sorry! 🙁 Katie

Please remember that I’m just a gal who reads a lot and spends way too much time in her kitchen. I’m not a doctor, nurse, scientist, or even a real chef, and certainly the FDA hasn't evaluated anything on this blog. Any products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please talk to your health professional (or at least your spouse) before doing anything you might think is questionable. Trust your own judgment…I can’t be liable for problems that occur from bad decisions you make based on content found here.

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